As we gathered votes for our 2019 Year-End Readers Poll (sorry, voting is now closed), we thought it would be illuminating to look back at the results from the past 10 years of YERP, as we call it. Some of the albums that made the top 10 each year are considered classics now, favorites that we still spin and whose songs still pack a punch today. Others? Well, they may have fallen out of heavy rotation, but these lists might just inspire you to give them a fresh listen.
Most years, we published the top 50 roots music albums our readers picked, so click on the year if you want to read the full list.
2018
1. John Prine – The Tree of Forgiveness2. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Live from the Ryman3. Brandi Carlile – By the Way, I Forgive You4. Amanda Shires – To the Sunset5. Alejandro Escovedo – The Crossing6. Bob Dylan – More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 147. Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour8. Willie Nelson – Last Man Standing9. Jeff Tweedy – WARM10. Rosanne Cash – She Remembers Everything
2017
1. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit –The Nashville Sound 2. Margo Price – All American Made 3. Chris Stapleton – From a Room: Vol. 1 4. Ryan Adams – Prisoner 5. David Rawlings – Poor David’s Almanack 6. Gregg Allman – Southern Blood 7. Ray Wylie Hubbard – Tell the Devil I’m Gettin’ There as Fast as I Can 8. Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway 9. John Moreland – Big Bad Luv 10. Steve Earle – So You Wanna Be an Outlaw
2016
1. Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide to Earth 2. Drive-by Truckers – American Band 3. Lucinda Williams – The Ghosts of Highway 20 4. Margo Price – Midwest Farmer’s Daughter 5. John Prine – For Better, Or Worse 6. Alejandro Escovedo – Burn Something Beautiful 7. Hayes Carll – Lovers and Leavers 8. Wilco – Schmilco 9. Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker 10. Amanda Shires – My Piece of Land
2015
1. Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free2. Chris Stapleton – Traveller3. James McMurtry – Complicated Game4. Dave Rawlings Machine – Nashville Obsolete5. John Moreland – High on Tulsa Heat6. (tie) The Mavericks – Mono6. (tie) Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell – The Traveling Kind6. (tie) Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow Is My Turn9. Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin – Lost Time10. Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color
2014
1. Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music2. Lucinda Williams – Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone3. Rosanne Cash – The River and the Thread4. Lydia Loveless – Somewhere Else5. Ryan Adams – Ryan Adams6. Drive-By Truckers – English Oceans7. Hurray for the Riff Raff – Small Town Heroes8. Old 97’s – Most Messed Up9. Chuck Prophet – Night Surfer10. John Fullbright – Songs
2013
1. Jason Isbell – Southeastern2. Patty Griffin – American Kid3. Holly Williams – The Highway4. Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison – Cheater’s Game5. Richard Thompson – Electric6. Son Volt – Honky Tonk7. Willie Sugarcapps – Willie Sugarcapps8. Robbie Fulks – Gone Away Backward9. Steve Earle – The Low Highway10. The Mavericks – In Time
2012
1. Iris Dement – Sing the Delta2. The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter3. Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now4. Bob Dylan – Tempest5. Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls6. Shovels and Rope – O’ Be Joyful7. Chuck Prophet – Temple Beautiful8. Mumford & Sons – Babel9. Old Crow Medicine Show – Carry Me Back10. John Fullbright – From the Ground Up
2011
1. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & the Harvest2. The Decemberists – The King Is Dead3. Wilco – The Whole Love4. Lucinda Williams – Blessed5. Steve Cropper – Dedicated6. Tom Waits – Bad as Me7. Dave Alvin – Eleven Eleven8. Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers – Starlight Hotel9. Jason Isbell – Here We Rest10. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
2010
1. Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues2. Alejandro Escovedo – Street Songs of Love3. Peter Wolf – Midnight Souvenirs4. Drive-by Truckers – The Big To Do5. John Mellencamp – No Better Than This6. Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone7. Robert Plant – Band of Joy8. Black Keys – Brothers 9. Carolina Chocolate Drops – Genuine Negro Jig 10. Jamey Johnson – The Guitar Song
2009
1. Buddy & Julie Miller – Written in Chalk2. Avett Brothers – I and Love and You3. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone4. Tom Russell – Blood and Candle Smoke5. Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women – Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women6. Wilco – Wilco (the Album)7. Justin Townes Earle – Midnight at the Movies8. Chuck Prophet – Let Freedom Ring9. Steve Earle – Townes10. Guy Clark – Somedays the Song Writes You
Albums of the (Last) Decade: 2000-2009
And finally, we found this gem posted in 2009 — a reader-curated poll of the 20 best albums of the previous decade. Let this take you back — and help you look forward to what some of these artists, who never missed a beat, may have in store for the decade to come!
- Gillian Welch- Time (The Revelator)
- Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
- Drive By Truckers – The Dirty South
- Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
- Bruce Springsteen – The Rising
- Mary Gauthier – Mercy Now
- Alejandro Escovedo – A Man Under the Influence
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Soundtrack)
- Radiohead – Hail To The Thief
- Broken Family Band – Welcome Home Loser
- Patty Griffin – 1000 Kisses
- Bob Dylan – Love & Theft
- Buddy and Julie Miller – Written in Chalk
- Buddy Miller – Universal United House of Prayer
- Laura Veirs – Triumphs and Travails Of Orphan Mae
- Ray Wylie Hubbard – Growl
- Slaid Cleaves – Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away
- Thad Cockrell & Caitlin Cary – Begonias
- Wilco – A Ghost Is Born
- Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
Comments ()